6 tips for getting started in God of War

Looking for some God of War tips and tricks? God of War finally arrives on Steam and the Epic Games Store this week for those of you who are PlayStation-less or simply fancy playing it with DLSS, widescreen support, and more. Whether you missed it the first time around or need a refresher, these are my top tips for getting started in God of War, from how to use Spartan Rage to using runes and more.

God of War tips to get you started in Midgard 

Explore

While it might be tempting to just blast through the story in one go, exploring every side path and room thoroughly is key if you want to uncover all of God of War's secrets. There are chests, ravens, and gear hidden everywhere. If you want to get to the end, you'll need to be constantly equipping better items—but you won't find the best items if you rush things. You've waited this long for a PC version, so take your time.

Switch up your gear regularly

Speaking of equipping gear, that's only half the battle—you'll want to use your weapons and abilities to the fullest. Don't forget to upgrade and utilise Atreus, too, especially in later fights. Learning to effectively parry early on will save your hide more than once. 

While there is an in-game tutorial for this, here's a quick refresher: just as an enemy is about to strike, click the block button to parry. When fighting Draugr, watch for the yellow flash mid-swing—that's your cue to parry.

Axe throwing!

Another extremely fun mechanic to master is the axe throw, which you can use to kill enemies and solve puzzles. It allows you to keep your distance while constantly boomeranging your axe around arenas. If all else fails, Kratos has the Spartan Rage ability. You can fill the gauge as you fight enemies and it's best used when your health is pretty low. Your damage resistance increases sharply and you can tear down smaller enemies to gather some much-needed health before tackling a more challenging foe.

Choose the right runes for the occasion

You should change the runes you have equipped before every big fight at least: some are naturally more advantageous than others in certain situations. Some will stagger or stun enemies, which is useful when tackling a bunch of smaller enemies, whereas others will do heavy AoE damage or grant you bursts of health. Don't forget to tweak Atreus abilities, too.

Find out enemy weaknesses in your bestiary

Enemy types can be found in the bestiary, with which you'll be able to find out their strengths and weaknesses. Having a read of it after every encounter is a good way to know which runes or weapons are effective against each type. That way fights are more likely to end in your favour. 

Smash!

Watch out for fake walls and other breakable things: you can obliterate them with your axe. Or throw an enemy into a wall, boot them off a ledge, throw one at the other and chuck them both off a cliff… whatever takes your fancy! You'll also find secrets, health, and treasure in smashable items or reveal puzzle and chest locations.